How much do social media professionals make?

Social media jobs are in high demand right now, but how well do they pay?

A community of social media professionals called Jobs in Social Media wanted to find out. It spoke with recruiters and used online tools to track down some salaries, and the numbers look pretty competitive. The group sent out a press release outlining a few common job titles and their salaries:

The press release said social media directors at Fortune 500 companies could earn in the six-figure range.

However, a couple of people I talked to who work in social media said they make nowhere near these numbers. (They wanted to remain anonymous, because they wanted to avoid awkward conversations with their bosses who might read this.)

A study from last October said that the starting salary for a PR specialist ranged from ranges from $38,750 to $60,500. It also noted that PR salaries were expected to increase by 3.5 percent in 2012.